Here at the TLC, we strongly advocate for environmental and social sustainability. Many of the same societal structures that put our climate in jeopardy (such as overconsumption and fossil fuel pollution) have also impacted the wellbeing of populations around the world. In order for environmental initiatives to be sustained, human needs have to be met. We are inspired by projects that beautifully weave together environmental initiatives with social justice action. This fosters a more regenerative environment where nature and humans can both thrive.
Victoria-based Basecamp Repairs was born when Alex and Nic met working for a national outdoor equipment retailer and realized many products were being returned or thrown away when they could be easily repaired. They had already been repairing their own gear for years, so why couldn’t they help others as well? The Basecamp mission is to reduce waste by extending the lifespan of outdoor equipment through repairs and maintenance.
Fashion Takes Action is running a mechanical textiles recycling pilot that started in Fall 2021, to show the business case for full-circle textile recycling technology in Canada. The pilot will recycle used 100% polyester activewear into a consumer facing product, which to our knowledge, has never been done before.
Building a recycling pilot is no small feat. As part of our collaboration with FTA, we are supporting them in open sourcing the learnings from the pilot project. This blog series will be one way we are sharing the tips and tricks gathered as the pilot progresses. Our goal at the TLC is to help map the path to creating more recycling pilots across Canada and elsewhere.
Shyne Eyewear is a student-run social enterprise from the University of Ottawa that aims to build a community of change makers who can move fashion forward into a sustainable future.
Up Pet is a Canadian brand, creating upcycled accessories for pets and their humans. Up Pet officially began in 2019, while founder Clavia Castilhos was doing her post grad in sustainable fashion production at George Brown. She already had 10+ years experience working in the fashion industry in Brazil, and understood the nature of the industry’s challenges, especially textile waste. She was excited to learn about the Salvation Army challenge encouraging designers to upcycle post-consumer textiles, particularly home textiles and linens, to divert them from landfills. Being a lifelong pet lover, Clavia had also noticed a gap in the market for sustainable pet accessories. And so Up Pet was born!
We’ve been listening to your feedback! As outlined in our previous post, we’ve refined our approach based on feedback we have received from our trusted industry network. We are in a unique position, building off of the results of the 2019 textile collaborative, which defined clear strategic leverage points. We are excited to announce our new programming, designed to address key pain points of the industry, while taking tangible action on our leverage points.
Through our outreach efforts with local industry, we’ve identified a common thread: organizations want to take action on social and environmental issues, but aren’t sure how it fits into their business model. While pitching the original 2-year Lab, we heard folks asking for more individualized support embedding circular principles into their organizations. We see this as an important opportunity to build the capacity of the regional industry, and a key first step in fostering meaningful collaboration in the future.
Social labs are a leading edge method of stakeholder engagement, where “unlikely allies” are recruited and brought together in a space primed for collaboration. Through a series of facilitated workshops, the group will develop a comprehensive map of the social issue in question, and identify “leverage points” from which they can take action. Social labs are emergent in nature, and allow participants to pivot with the latest information rather than being tied to outdated plans developed in the past. Once the situation is adequately mapped, the group can then begin the iterative process of prototyping solutions.
